Topic: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

Hey guys, We are almost done with getting our car ready to go. Our windshield was all spider cracks and a tech failure. Anyways trying to find a windshield for a 1972 Dodge Coronet is well out of stock. One guy found a new one in the Midwest but there are zero on the east coast.They seem to make them every couple years for these cars and it seems they are behind on a fresh batch. We are just going to swap to lexan as the roof of our car is rusty and may not support the glass without cracking it again. Easy button is to lexan it and forget about it.

Was shopping around for 1/8th thick polycarbonate. Summit is local but they seem to only list for certain cars. Curious where a good place to get some. Our team is around SC. With us being in Greenville, Columbia, and Augusta. Any good ideas where to get some.

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

I use Professional Plastics for Acrylic, Lexan, plexi, etc.

http://www.professionalplastics.com/cgi … pl?q=lexan

Buying bulk sheets and building a replacement for a windshield will likely mean having to build it in two or three sections. They will custom cut you one big sheet but the shipping on it will be a killer. Take a roll of brown paper and create a template using the broken windshield and then divide it in parts that match standard available sheet sizes. Use metal channel and tubes of Lexan caulk to put the sheets together on the car.

You can bend to shape the sheets with a heat gun but be careful. If you get it too hot it will discolor. I am in Charleston.

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

You can build one yourself quite easily if you don't have compound curves (curves in two directions). 
I did a custom windshield on my 3-wheeler as it is flat top-to-bottom, just curves around.
Looks like your car might be that way.  I used the cheaper Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG), it has shorter lifetime than polycarbonate.

Let me give you another tip which I did to my windows, was tint them using fabric dye.
Longer you leave it in, the darker it gets.   Liquid Dye is like $2, so very cheap to get your tinted 'glass'.

4 (edited by NOPANTSDOUGIE 2017-07-24 06:51 AM)

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

for a windshield you want 1/4 inch not 1/8th

959 Toyota Tercel   6x Lemons loser

New England Area roll cages send me an email I'm in Central MA

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

Also keep in mind that Lexan (polycarbonate) scratches VERY easy.  If it rains and you have to use windshield wipers, you'll likely ruin the windshield.

Captain
Team Super Westerfield Bros.
'93 Acura Integra - No VTEC Yo!

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

There is also an option for scratch resistant lexan, but more money.  We have been running a lexan windshield for 11 races, same piece of plastic the entire time.  Easy to work with, tough as nails.  Been through two major Houston rainstorms.  Still works fine.  Not as clear as glass, but lexan polish helps.

Organizer's Choice Award 2011 Heaps in Heart of Texas
IOE 2012 North Dallas Hooptie
2014 ECR Class C WIN;  2015 MSR Class B WIN
Speedy Monzales

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

McMaster-Carr is a god source. 

https://www.mcmaster.com/#polycarbonate-sheets/=18mzb30

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

I'll link this to speedy. He used lexan for both the chopper rounded and flat windows and a ton of the vw van.

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

nimblemotorsports wrote:

I did a custom windshield on my 3-wheeler as it is flat top-to-bottom, just curves around... I used the cheaper Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG), it has shorter lifetime than polycarbonate.

Don't do that for the race car, though, as Rule 3.J.1 specifies that only OE glass, steel mesh, or polycarbonate may be used.

1982 MG Metro 1300: IOE 2015 Pacific Northworst GP, Longest Distance 2010 Cd'L Box Wine Country Classic
1980 KV Mini 1: Worst of Show and Fright Pig Supremo 2009 Concours d'Lemons
1978 H Special: Second-Round Elimination 2010 Lemons Pinewood Derby at Sears Pointless
1967 SAAB 96: IOE 2012 Pacific Northworst GP, Organizer's Choice 2022 Hell on Wheels California Rally

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

+1 on McMasters polycarbonate. It needs to be 1/4" thick and the scratch resistance coating is a REALLY good idea. Also a really good idea is a few well mounted aluminum straps behind the windshield to keep any large object impacting your windshield from penetrating all the way through to you.

Why would you want such obvious overkill? I don't know, perhaps you might be leading a race and some nefarious deer might be put up to take you out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xd7NKVWjOs





Greg

1987 Alfa Milano (Bellissima since 2008), Racing since 2008 Stafford Springs,  2nd overall 2011 NJMP, 4th at NHMS 2011, 2nd at Summit 2011, Into the wall hard at Stafford Springs 2011, 2nd at Monticello 2013, 3rd at NHMS 2013, 2nd at NHMS 2016. 2nd at NJMP 2018

25,000 racing miles in 32 races in 10 years. Yes its the same motor. Tell me again how Alfas suck? Update: Big moneyshift = new motor

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

I replaced with Lexan windshield by ordering from Altec Plastics, not far from me, south of Boston.

http://www.altecplastics.com/

$104 (CLR Lexan 66x36x3/16)

Since they are near me, I just ordered a sheet by phone and picked it up.  I think they will ship also.
I just removed the old Lexan one, made a template, cut it our with a jig saw, and mounted with rivets, with rubber/metal washers, gooped with silicone.
Came out great.
The car also has a couple of metal bars in the center for added support.  I think this is really necessary to add reinforcement.

I think 3/16 is fine for thickness. 1/4 inch maybe better, but less flexible.  1/8 is probably too thin, I would say.

So far, has not really scratched....but certainly not as scratch resistant as glass....but certainly lighter.  Glare is a bit of a concern....but has not been a big problem.  We raced in torrential rain in NJ, and it was fine to race with.

MarioKart Driving School: 1987 Honda Prelude Si (Opus #28) 
Loudon, NH 2014 - Millville, NJ, Lightening 2019 (RIP)
New and improved: 1987 Honda Prelude Si (Opus #11) Pittsburgh, PA 2021 - ??
and finally won something, Class C Win: Loudon, NH 2022

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

Alright so I talked to our one team mate who has Lexan in his american iron car. He is going to get 3/16 thick. He also knows a place local to him in Augusta where he has got some. Seems I answered to soon as he is picking up a new sheet this week. I guess we will let him do them. He said he gets about 8 years out of a windshield. He just replaced his first one. So guess we will play it by year. Just need something to protect the driver from deer, engine parts or who knows what else


As for wipers our car has been missing them for years. We have some parts but our team mate says for rain tons of rainx and soap the inside. That or we could use the current rule of small squeegee-wielding children tied to the hood. Either works.

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

96Formula6spd wrote:

Alright so I talked to our one team mate who has Lexan in his american iron car. He is going to get 3/16 thick. He also knows a place local to him in Augusta where he has got some. Seems I answered to soon as he is picking up a new sheet this week. I guess we will let him do them. He said he gets about 8 years out of a windshield. He just replaced his first one. So guess we will play it by year. Just need something to protect the driver from deer, engine parts or who knows what else.

Interesting as we can't even get our glass windshield to make it more than 3 seasons without needing replacement due to pitting.

Captain
Team Super Westerfield Bros.
'93 Acura Integra - No VTEC Yo!

14 (edited by Alfaholic 2017-07-25 09:20 AM)

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

VKZ24 wrote:
96Formula6spd wrote:

Alright so I talked to our one team mate who has Lexan in his american iron car. He is going to get 3/16 thick. He also knows a place local to him in Augusta where he has got some. Seems I answered to soon as he is picking up a new sheet this week. I guess we will let him do them. He said he gets about 8 years out of a windshield. He just replaced his first one. So guess we will play it by year. Just need something to protect the driver from deer, engine parts or who knows what else.

Interesting as we can't even get our glass windshield to make it more than 3 seasons without needing replacement due to pitting.


Interesting for us because we can't even get our glass windshield to make it more than 3 races without needing replacement due to someone leaving the hood pins undone...

Scuderia Regurgito  '75 Fiat 131, '93 e36
2010 Stafford: Winner, class ugly  2011 NJMP: Organizer's Choice and violently exploded gearbox
2011 Stafford: Most From the Least, 2012 NJMP: Shockingly issue free, 2012 Loudon: Rod thru block
2012 Hooptiefest: Multiple spun bearings, 2013 Monticello: Head gaskets, 2013 Loudon: More head gaskets, 2013 NJMP, 2013 Hooptiefest, 2014 NJMPx2 and Heroic Fix

Re: Best place to buy lexan glass from.

Another benefit of Lexan over glass: no need to worry about hood breaking windshield from leaving hood pins undone...!

(love it....!)

MarioKart Driving School: 1987 Honda Prelude Si (Opus #28) 
Loudon, NH 2014 - Millville, NJ, Lightening 2019 (RIP)
New and improved: 1987 Honda Prelude Si (Opus #11) Pittsburgh, PA 2021 - ??
and finally won something, Class C Win: Loudon, NH 2022